With the NFL Draft on the horizon, I thought it might be a fun exercise to complete a new Mock Draft each week leading up to it. Each week I will complete a seven round mock draft with an emphasis on a certain position (excluding QB) in Rd 1 and throughout the draft to start to get a feel for what players might be available, how the board might fall when emphasizing a certain position in Rd 1. This will also give me a way to scout individual players selected in the mock, before diving into my annual scouting of each position group for draft prep. I will use Pro Football Network since they have a trading option that can be used in future mocks. As offseason events such as the Combine and Free Agency occur, the draft board, players and team needs will come more into focus, so we can see the evolution of this process each week. I will try not to select the same players each if possible so we can get a look under the hood of some different players for each mock draft.

The previous mock in this series can be found here

MOCK DRAFT 5

FOCUS: TE

TRADES: NONE

Rd 1-Michael Mayer, TE Notre Dame

Pro: Extremely smart player that understands the defense and knows where to get to in his route, decent burst off the line which gives him flex/slot ability, very good catch radius, good route runner that knows how to use his hands to defeat press and jams, excellent blocker for the position as he knows how to wall and drive defenders

Con: Does not possess elite speed to threaten the deep half of the field, does not show good body control and strength to fight for contested catches, has not shown the ability to run complex routes and schemes, lacks ideal functional strength to win against bigger defenders

Rd 2- Zay Flowers, WR Boston College

Pro: Elite separator off the line to quickly get to open space, smooth route runner with fluid and sudden movements give him multiple ways to beat defenders, borderline elite footspeed, great footwork and body control to beat and stack defenders, shows great break on his stems to create lateral separation

Con: Lacks ideal measurables to be a true "X" WR, can be bullied at the line by bigger more physical DB, lack of height limits his contested catch ability, does not high point the ball well and can prefer body catches rather than snatching the ball in the air

Rd 3- Matthew Bergeron, OT Syracuse

Pro: Position flexibility to play both tackles, fantastic run blocker that uses strength and footwork to wall off defenders, good lateral movement to keep his edges clean, does a good job of resetting his base within the rep, does a good job of looking for work and keeping his head up to pick up stunts and twists

Con: Can play with an elevated pad level causing him to lose leverage, at times prefers to hand fight than to move and finish the block, does not play with enough of a mean streak consistently, not consistent in his pass sets as he either does not extend enough to counter quick edge pressure or oversets leaving the door open to interior counters or an outside bull rush to knock him off balance

Rd 4- Zack Kuntz, TE Old Dominion

Pro: Extreme athlete for the position, has quick feet to stay with a block, good body control to wall off defenders when blocking, good vertical speed, excels in catch and run routes off the LOS, good body control to adjust to the ball in the air, does a good job of walling off defenders to give his QB a big target

Con: Does not play with enough power and strength, prefers to be a finesse blocker rather than to lock and drive, does not have initial quickness or speed to create separation quickly off the line, does not play as fast as he tested, tends to round routes instead of snapping them off clean, needs to improve his hands to break press coverages, questionable whether he has enough initial speed to be flexed into the slot

Rd 5- Isaiah McGuire, Edge Missouri

Pro: Fierce bull rush to overpower his opponent and make plays in the backfield, has the feet and power to play 3 or 5 technique, has decent bend around the edge, shows good initial burst and power to shoot gaps and force double teams,

Con: Can be forced off his mark with down blocks, does not separate off defenders easily to free himself to make the play, limited pass rush skill, can be slow to find the ball laterally causing him to be slow in pursuit, to often is so intent on firing off the ball into the gap that he takes himself out of the play

Rd 6- Javon Hicks, S Cincinnati

Pro: Takes great angles when making a tackle or getting to break up a pass, does a good with timing to break up passes at the highpoint, has good range to move from the deep third to the middle of the field, shows good fluidity to turn and cover

Con: Slow to recognize routes, does not play with anticipation, needs to add more bulk to take on bigger competition, lacks ideal agility to play smaller and faster receivers in man coverage, can panic in coverage causing him to grab at his opponents

Rd 7- Cory Durden, DT NC State

Pro: His best tool is when he plays with great power and leverage at the POA, does a good job of anchoring his base to create pile ups at the LOS, quick first step and a relentless play style, can provide some interior pass rush

Con: Does not have the bend or wiggle to play 5 tech, fails to consistently shed blocks to make the tackle in space, can play to high at times losing his leverage, needs to develop more interior moves instead of relying on bull rush

The takeaway from this mock was that the TE position is deeper than it has been in about a decade. While there are 2-3 first round talents at the position, you could still find some decent talent later, but not someone who will be dynamic enough, in any way, to come in and be a factor as an offensive weapon from day 1. IMO, the only TE that can come in and do that are Mayer, Kincaid and Musgrave. Some people think Washington fits that mold, but not for my money, as he is solely an inline TE and not a moveable piece to create mismatches around the formation.

The player that I was most impressed with in this mock was McGuire. His play style reminded me a lot of Melvin Ingram where he wins often with burst but can flip the switch and win with power. He has a fantastic bull rush to swim move to beat OT and get into the backfield. He was better standing up to make plays, but he can also fire off the edge with his hand in the dirt. He must clean up his interior pursuit from the edge. To often he is seen using his outside shoulder to try and knife his way into the backfield and exposing his back to the OT. Better tackles use this to either collapse on him or to use his momentum to push him into the line. While he is probably ranked around the 20th best edge defender in this class, I think he can outproduce his draft pick and would be a steal if he was ever an UDFA.

There it is, Week 6 in the books. Let me know how you think this one shook out, and your thoughts on any of these players for the Chargers. Thanks